Record profit, record sales, leads the industry in all categories …. and their stock gets hammered -50 points and Wall Street calls them a failing company because analysts constantly say they expect more. Media tech writers say Apple should give them a "cheap" no-frills phone, a new form factor, an entirely new UI … Apple doesn't, then they write that Apple is failing and the stock tumbles.

Yes, growth declined while everyone waited for new hardware in the Fall, and sales reached new highs. So, in the financial mind-set it's not about profit?

Stocks are a leading indicator (and here I never took an econ course in my life!!). So the market now is predicting the future, not celebrating the past. And the future seems to be driven by Apple's cutting orders for iPhone 5 screens, and so on.

It's always been this way with Apple and Wall Street -- they're happy to ride the Apple wave as long as it makes them money, start expecting the wave to never break and when it shows signs of cresting, they kill the stock.

I still remember the fall of '99 when Apple posted a loss for the quarter. The Wall Street brainiacs called it an Apple-specific trend and killed the stock by 50% the following day. And then proceeded to lose their shirts when the rest of the tech sector crashed too ...

I think you pretty much nailed it.. every time AAPL doesn't meet expectations EXACTLY or better they get punished. Cramer came out with an analysis that showed they were damm close... surely not 7% (stock drop) below estmates !! BUT it did allow me to buy at an Excellent price.

In case you guys don't know- the Market is rigged - even Cramer admits it (back in 2006) !! (its on YouTube...) so when they get burned - do NOT feel sorry for those greedy Bastids !!

Yeah, I get it that Wall Street bets on futures and a whole lot of BILLIONS were made on January 18 when APPL hit 500, a price that was bet heavily in futures back in the summer to hit 500 on that date. The WSJ ran bogus stories a week ago (then immediately pulled them) to insure that the low would occur like magic.

But the stock is 250 pts below its high and a whole lot of investors are also losing billions.

Like I said earlier, it's all f'd up. And Wall Street and their paid analysts are taking Apple for a ride like no other company that I know of.

And the future seems to be driven by Apple's cutting orders for iPhone 5 screens, and so on.

Yes, Apple cuts screens orders because they introduced a new product, the iPad Mini, which intentionally cannibalized the iPod Touch from their product line. iPhone 5 orders were at an all-time record high last quarter.

Mac orders were down because they didn't ship the new iMacs until mid December. Wall Street wants Apple to bring new products to market and still punishes them, and this happens when Apple follows the exact same market strategy that Steve Jobs succeeded in taking incremental steps to PERFECT a product as they're doing now with iPhone, iPad and iMac lines.

Wall Street plays this bullsh!t game to ignore reality that product advancements do not always require a new form factor --- a form factor that Apple innovated (and did not steal). I feel APPL is being manipulated from outside influences on a scale that may prove to be the next huge Wall Street scandal.

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